Joker and the Thief
by oyihsTM
Summary: She was the thief, having no one to look after but herself. She was a runner, trying to survive life and living on the edge. They both have a terrifying, unspoken past....
1. The Joker and The Thief

Well here we are. This is a Mirror's Edge fanfic with my own original created characters EXCEPT for Faith.

I do not own Mirror's Edge, Mirror's Edge's ideas, or anything that has to do with Mirror's Edge. Enjoy

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I ran up the stairs, breaking down the door in my way that lead to the rooftop. I ran forward, but as expected, blues turned the corner with guns in hand. I stood for a second, quickly scanning the area for a way out. There I saw a long distance gap between me and the edge of the rooftop. What stopped me from making a run for it as soon as I saw it was the blues in front of me, ordering me to stop. I noticed that there was a wall next to them, and took it as a way out. Taking a deep breath, I made a mad dash towards the blues. They began firing their rifles and pistols at will, practically missing every shot. I jumped towards the vertical surface and began to wall-run past the blues. When I made it fully behind them, I pushed myself away from the wall and rolled onto the ground. I hopped back on my feet and ran forward towards the edge, hoping it would be my way off this God forsaken rooftop infested with blues.

Sparks and holes appeared all around me with every step I took, created by millions of bullets. The sound of gun shots rung in my ears. Halfway to the edge of the roof, a helicoptor rose up into my view. There stood a blue, sniper in hand. He looked through the crosshair, carefully trying to pin me down. I narrowed my eyes.

Right then and there, everything had gone in slow motion. Everything suddenly went mute. The sound of racing footsteps behind me faded. My heartbeat slowly came to a small, periodic thud. The blades of the helicopter started to slow down to the point were they seemed motionless. My senses became sharper; my vision grew stronger and my awareness fully clicked. I looked at the sniper, seeing the blue's finger slowly about to pull the trigger to what could be the end of me. I scanned my surroundings. I saw a line that ran behind the helicopter before me. My runner vision highlighted the strange object that I layed my eyes on a bright, vibrant red, exposing it as a zip line.

Then I felt everything starting to make it's way back to reality. I heard the sound of footsteps starting to make it's loud, terrifiying pounds on the ground. The helicoptor's blades started to turn faster and faster with every second that passed. I looked back at the trigger, seeing it slowly being pulled back. I was two steps away from making one of my most impossible escapes. I felt my heart starting to pound in my chest as sweat slid down my neck.

That's when everything had fully gone back to normal. I made my daring leap of faith to the great beyond. I heard the blue let the sniper release its grim reaper. I saw the bullet coming straight at me. It grew larger and became a blurr within my vision as it closed the gap between us. I froze in fear; I could actually feel the heat emitting off of the blazing metal.

At that moment, I felt a stinging sensation growing bold on my right cheek. That's when I grabbed a hold of the line I so longed for, zipping down safely to the darkness of the streets below. I brought my legs up to brace myself for the wall approaching me. My feet slammed against it, bringing me to a sudden stop. I let go of the line and landed the ground below my feet. I looked back up to the roof of the building I had just retreated from, seeing the helicopter flying in a different direction to hunt me down once more. My eyes followed the hypnotic spinning blades for a period of time until they happened to gaze upon the moon.

It's brilliant rays of light shined down to where I was standing. I started to reminisce on old but not forgotten memories.... My more missed memories. I started to drift farther into my past.... That's when I began to remember the more bitter moments.... To the time when--

"Hey.... Hey!! Say something goddammit!" I snapped back to reality when I heard the sound of Faith's voice booming in my right ear. I pushed the button on the communicator in my ear to reply back.

"Yeah, I'm here. What is it?" I released the button, waiting for a reply.

"You gave me a heart attack dammit. I was calling you for a good five minutes. What the hell were you doing?"

"Nothing. Just lost track of time I guess."

"How'd the delivery go? Heard a lot of blue's on your tail. You alright?"

"Which one you want me to answer first; how the delivery went or if I'm alright?" I chuckled slightly; sarcasm was my anti-drug.

"Alright smart ass, very funny. But seriously...."

"I was able to get the message through successfully. It was a hell of a lot of trouble though; blues were gun happy as usual. I better be getting a tip. As for me, I'm still in one piece at the very least. It counts for something."

"If you can still get from point A to point B you'll be fine. Just get back to headquarters. It's getting late."

I looked at the sky, giving an idea that popped into mind some time to think over. I then turned around and walked into the dark alley behind me, pressing the button on my communicator. "Actually, I'm gonna take a small tour around the city. Maybe explore new escape routes or something, I don't know. I think the night's still young if you ask me."

I heard a sigh on the other line. I knew she was probably pinching the bridge between her eyes or scratching her head, trying to find something to say that'll prevent me from carrying out my idea. "Alright."

I knew I won.

"Seeing as how even if i disagreed with your plan, you'd still go anyway. Just as long as you're in shape for tomorrow, I don't care."

I ran up the wall to my left, jumping backwards to grab a hold of the edge to a rooftop behind me. I pulled myself up and looked back at the mesmerizing moon-lit sky. I activated the communicator for the last time that night. "Glad you see it my way." I heard a click on the other line, signaling that Faith had shut the computer down. This time as I moved my hand away from the device in my ear, I noticed something more glossy about it in the moonlight.

I moved my hand into view and examined it. There, I saw the traces of smeared blood all over my black, fingerless gloved palm. I began to wonder how and where I was bleeding. Then the memory of the sizzling bullet of the sniper hit me. I placed two fingers on my right cheek and felt for a cut. Not to my surprise, I felt the stinging sensation again. I drew my hand back and looked at the tip of the two fingers, seeing splotches of fresh blood dripping down. ".... Eh, It'll heal." I walked to the edge of the roof to look at the street sign below which read. I turned right and began to run, jumping rooftop to rooftop to begin my little road trip for the night.

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I landed in the middle of an alley way, one knee on the ground. I rose to my feet, standing up tall and cautiously in my new enviorment. I made my way down the dark pathway, heading towards the street light on the sidewalk in front of me. I was about to take my first step into the spot light when suddenly I heard police sirens sounding off from a distance. I looked around to find the general direction of the sound, finally pin-pointing the fact that it was to my right. I looked down the street to my right, seeing nothing but the empty black street that layed stretched out before me. "Hm.... " Turning my attention to the left side of the street, I began to walk down the lone walkway. Only make a few feet worth of progress, I heard the sirens blaring all the way down the road behind me. I stopped in my tracks and peered over my shoulder, seeing the colors of blue and red lights reflecting off of the walls of buildings that were getting closer to me.

"Shit!" I looked back ahead of me, sprinting down the sidewalk. I came to a four way intersection, one of the drive ways being blocked off with a fence for construction work. I jumped the fence and ran down into the construction site. The first thing I saw in the darkness was a cement truck. I ran over to the truck and peeked inside the large solid metal barrel, seeing no signs of cement blocking my way. I pulled myself up into the entrance of the cement carrier, slowly making my way to the end of the tunnel. I tripped every here and there over the elevated, dull metal spiral that was twisted all around the barrel. I was nearing what I assumed to be the end of the tunnel when suddenly bumped into something. I went wide eyed, quickly pushing myself off of the unidentified object. I landed a few feet away from the person or thing I accidentally hit. I focused my sight into the shadow in front of me, seeing two eyes staring back at me.

"Hey, who's there--- aah!" Instead of a calm response that I expected, I was suddenly tackled onto my back. My vision suddenly blurred for a brief second when I felt that my head had landed on the metal spiral that I was hoping to avoid. The strange person sat on my stomach, throwing punches at my face. They landed one solid hit to my face, which knocked my vision back to normal. I then started to move my head side to side to evade some hits, bringing my arms up to block what could have been direct hits. "What the hell are you doing?! Who are you!?" My angry voice echoed within the large hollow barrel we were in. The figure threw one last punch at me as a response. I brought my hand up and caught their punch, throwing them to the side to flip them onto their back. The barrel rolled as I struggled to get the dominant position, making it more difficult for me and the person to maneuver our attacks in the hollow imprisonment placed upon us. After a few more minutes of stumbling over the elevated metal spiral and trying to avoid hits from each other, I finally had the stranger on their back, arms pinned down by their head as I sat on their stomach. The barrel came to a slow stop as the rocking of the arena ceased.

We somehow found ourselves all the way near the entrance of the tunnel were the moonlight found a small access inside. The light was shining in an angle where I could only see one part of the figure. The only thing visible for me now was the right of their face down to their right shoulder in the moonlight's rays. "Alright, you're gonna tell me who you are, and why the hell you--" The stranger turned out to be a teenage girl. She had dark brown eyes that glistened evenly in the calming moonlit sky. "attacked.... me...." Her skin was smooth, and had light brown for color. She had her hair down, which was jet black and a bit below shoulder length with jagged bangs going across her forehead. Her lips were soft and a peachy pink color, and shined in the moonlight with moisture. I looked lower to see the clothing that covered her torso. I saw a white undershirt covering her neck being layed with a cloth of red that appeared to be her shirt. I looked back at her eyes, finding myself so..... captured.....

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I struggled with the policeman for a while, trying to get a few good punches through to her. I felt the woman grab one of my punches, and used that to her advantage to flip me to my back. I fought back with everything that I had, but in the end she got the best of me. She pinned my hands next to my head and sat on my stomach as I layed on my back. I knew that this was gonna be the end of me; there was no way I was getting out of this one. Out of anger I refused to look at the girl when I heard her barking orders at me. I noticed that we were close to the entrance of the tunnel, and I saw the moonlight's ray beaming into the barrel. I followed the ray to were it ended inside the hollow metal shell. I kept following the beam of light until it landed on the woman's face. That's when I went wide eyed. I noticed something.... different about this girl.

Unfortunately since it was only a dim light shining inside at an angle, the only thing I could make out in the darkness was the girl's eyes down to her nose and her left shoulder. She certainly wasn't a police officer for she wore a baggy-ish white sleeved shirt and didn't have any equipment with her. She was a teenager, maybe about sixteen or seventeen. I first gazed into her hypnotic dark red eyes, finding myself lost within them for a while. I then glanced at her jet black hair, noticing that it was in a low pony tail that grew to her mid-back. My eyes then explored more of her detailed features, paying attention to the long cut on her right cheek....

"Hey...." I heard the girl's soft but strong voice calling me. I looked back at her eyes, giving her my full attention. "Who are you?"

I parted my lips to respond. "I'm.... I...." I swallowed the saliva forming in my mouth, stumbled on how to answer her question. ".... My name is Symphony."

The teenage girl formed a smirk. "That's a nice name."

My lips formed a small smile. "I guess.... What about you? Do you have a name?"

The smile on the girl's face slowly eased, making me regret ever asking. Her eyes looked off to the side for a while, as if she was in deep thought. Suddenly the sound of police sirens caught both of our attention. The girl moved her head up to look at the street beyond the fence blocking access to the construction site. I would have looked as well, but she was still sitting on me with my hands pinned down. I whispered to her. "Are they here?"

She shook her head, whispering back. "Not yet, but I can see their lights getting closer. C'mon." She got off of me and pulled my hand to help me up. We made our way to the back of the tunnel once more, stumbling over the metal spiral over and over again. When we got to the end we sat silently and still side by side. We heard the police sirens getting closer and closer. Finally the sound of screeching tires outside of the fence sent a chill up my spine. Without realizing it, the girl saw me slightly shiver to the sound of the policemen opening the gates and cars driving into the construction site. She moved her head close to my ear to the point were I could feel her warm breaths on me. "Is there a reason you're running from the blues?"

My eyebrows formed a confused expression on my face. I moved my lips next to her ears to respond in a soft voice. "Blues?"

She let out a small chuckle and whispered back. "Yeah. Cops."

"Well.... I stole something. I'm a thief for a living."

She drew her head back so that we were close up and eye to eye. "A thief?"

"Yeah. I stole something recently, so I'm being hunted down."

"Aren't you just the smartest."

I rolled my eyes. "Well why are you running from the--"

I was cut off by the sound of one of the police officers. "Who's there?!" Me and the girl became completely quiet and still in our current positions. We heard the sound of footsteps coming closer to the cement truck. I slowly moved my eyes to see the entrance of the metal barrel. I saw the man waving his flashlight around until he finally decided to flash it inside the tunnel. I went wide eyed and held my breath. I saw him checking only near the entrance of the tunnel, then moved on deeper into the construction site. I pulled back and slowly exhaled, the feeling of relief washing over me. I looked back to the girl on my left and noticed that the girl had pulled back as well, staring at the direction of the entrance to the tunnel. I looked at her face, first her dark red eyes. I then found myself examining the long cut on her cheek, realizing that it was still a fresh wound.

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I waited patiently for the blues to leave so that I could finally relax. That's when I heard the sound of people getting into their cars and driving out of the construction site. I let out a deep breath. "Finally, their gone. About damn time..."

"Hey...." I heard Symphony's voice and turned my head to face her. "What happened to your cheek?"

I felt my cheek and winced when I made contact with the cut once more. "Oh, that.... I was shot at with a sniper rifle. It nearly missed my face."

Symphony's eyes went wide. "Why were you shot at with a sniper?"

I leaned back against the vertical surface behind me and crossed my arms. "It wasn't just a sniper. I was being shot at with machine guns and pistols too."

I saw Symphony raise one of her eyebrows. "Really now? And why is that?"

I chuckled. "Let's just say that the law isn't on my side. Never has, never will. Let's leave it at that for now."

Symphony sighed. "Fine, for now I guess.... Can you at least tell me your name?"

I looked at the entrance of the cement barrel. ".... Let's get out of here first." I began to crawl towards my destination. I heard Symphony sigh once more and begin to follow me.

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I took a deep breath of fresh air and exhaled in satisfaction. "Man, this feels so much better...." I looked over at Symphony who was stretching her arms up. I noticed that she was shorter than me by at least a couple of inches. As I had predicted, she wore a fitted red v-necked shirt with a white shirt underneath. She was wearing black, tight jeans with red and white converse shoes. She brought her arms back to her sides and looked at me. I immediately looked up, pretending that I was just scratching my head. "Well, it's been fun, but it's pretty late.... I gotta get going." I turned around and began to walk off. That is of course until I felt Symphony's hand grab my shoulder.

"Not so fast, Ms. Mysterious. I want some of my answers now."

I sighed. _'Damnit, she remembered....' _I turned around to face her.

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As the strange girl pinched the bridge of her nose while looking down at the ground, I decided to take this time to study the rest of her appearance. As I expected, she was wearing a loose white sleeved shirt, but it turns out that her right sleeve had been torn off, and there were three large scars on her arm. She wore black fitted baggy jeans with black and white converse shoes herself. It puzzles me why I didn't notice earlier, but she also wore black fingerless gloves. "Alright...." I snapped back to reality and looked at the girl's eyes. I can't understand why I always become drawn into her eyes....

"I'm only gonna say this once, so you better listen closely...." She looked at me in the eyes. "I hide from blues because they hunt me down on a daily bases. The thing is, I'm not the only one that they try to find. I'm in an organization were we deliver secret messages across the city...."

My eyes went wide. "No way.... You're one of them? You're a...."

She nodded. "Yeah.... I'm a runner. That's why I'm always being pursued."

I looked at her and knew she wasn't lying. "Wow.... I never thought I'd actually meet a runner.... I've always admired you guys. I always use to see people jumping rooftop to rooftop and stuff like that. It always amazed me on how you guys could do such amazing things."

The girl scratched her head and looked to the side. "Yeah I guess. It is pretty cool to defy gravity...." She looked at the sky. "Well, I gotta get going. Is there any other questions you wanna know? I might not see you again."

"Well, just one...." I grabbed her right arm. "What happened here?"

The girl looked down at her arm. "That.... It.....It was a long time ago." She gently brang her arm back to her side, turned around and began to walk towards the fence. "See you around kid."

I crossed my arms. "I am not a kid. For your information, I'm seventeen. And my name is not 'kid', it's Symphony."

The girl let out a chuckle. "Yeah, whatever." She jumped the fence and began to walk down the sidewalk towards a building.

Then something hit me. "Wait!!" I ran over to the fence, placing my fingers through the holes of the gate. "Your name."

The girl looked over her shoulder and looked at me. "Huh?"

"Your name. What's your name?" The girl moved her head away from her shoulder to look down. Then she ran towards the building. "Hey, wait!! Don't go inside--" She wall-climbed up the building's wall and grabbed a hold of the edge of its rooftop. ".... yet...." She pulled herself up and looked at me.

"The name's Joker." She then turned around and ran, jumping onto another rooftop until she was consumed by the darkness of the night.

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Well I hope that wasn't too bad. Hope you leave reviews. Later


	2. Kage

I layed on my side on the lone couch pressed against the wall of the bare room I currently resided in. The feel of morning's cool breeze blew through the barely shaded window attached to the far wall infront of me. My half open eyes stared blankly at the dull blue sky, hearing the early birds chirping their morning songs. I shifted my attention to the floor where my alarm clock was, reading it as 6:12 am. I turned over on my back with my eyes towards the ceiling and sighed. Mornings were always the worst time of day because the need of services came in slowly.

"Joker...." I turned my head to look at the floor once more to gaze upon the communicator with Faith's voice. I lazily reached towards the small device, feeling the cold metal making contact with my fingers. I fully grasped it, bringing it up to place it inside my ear. I then pressed the button to make a response.

I yawned. "Yeah, what is it."

"I got a job for you if you're interested. They're willing to give up five grand for guaranteed on time delivery."

I nearly feel off the couch in surprise. "Five grand? That's twice as much as all my missions together from this week."

"I noticed. But, there is something you should know before you jump to decision making...."

"What is it?"

"The message I got specifically requested that you make the delivery...."

I rose an eyebrow. Hesitantly, I pressed the button again. "Me?.... As in they specifically asked that the runner named 'Joker' make their delivery?"

"Apparently so."

I paused for a moment, then responded while unconsciously shaking my head slightly. "That's impossible Faith. People aren't suppose to know the names of any runner."

"You're right, but somehow somehow your name leaked into the public. It's either that, or it's someone that just happens to know you."

I narrowed my eyes. _'Maybe it's that Symphony girl from that one night a few days ago...' _"What's the name of the person?"

I heard Faith on the other side of the connection typing something on the computer. "It says that the name of the sender is unknown." I heard her type a little more. "Hm.... I can't hack into the computer that this e-mail was sent from...."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Well.... what does this person want me to do?"

"They want you to be down at the docks by 7:00 am sharp with a package they've placed under a red BMW parked isolated in an alley two blocks from here."

I looked back at the clock that read 6:18 am. I sat up on the sofa and stood to my feet, heading towards the middle of the room. I pressed the button on the communicator once more. "Yeah, I'll take the job." I then jumped and grabbed the edge of the hole in the ceiling above my head and pulled myself up.

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I ran up to the side of the building and pressed my back against it. I cautiously peered around the building to see if there were any blues or people in sight. Seeing no one, I ran around the corner. I saw an alley coming up to my right. I peered inside and saw the red BMW. I walked over to the side of the car and went down on one knee. I looked under the car and saw a small file folder lying there on the ground. I grabbed and examined it. There was nothing written on the front of back of the folder, and there was a strange rectangular bulge in the middle of it. I then placed it in the messenger bag that rested at my side. I stood up to my feet and began to run to my next destination.

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I jumped off the rooftop and rolled upon contact with the ground. I stood tall, looking around to see were this mysterious client was. I pulled out a watch from my pocket, reading it as 7:00 am. "Heh, made it just in time." As I was about to put the watch back in my pocket, I heard a footstep behind me. I remained still. There was a long silent pause.

"Well now look what the cat dragged in. I didn't think you'd show yourself...."

I went wide eyed. That familiar voice sent a vibe of despair through my body, leaving me butterflies in my stomach. I slowly turned around to face the demon with narrowed eyes. "Kage...."

The man slowly made his way to me with his red eyes and grin on his face. We wore a dark red leather jacket over a black sleeveless shirt, and wore matching dark red leather pants with black combat boots. His black hair was slicked back, the little bangs he had across his forehead being red. "My.... my.... my.... Isn't this a bittersweet reunion...."

I kept my eyes on him as he approached. "What the hell do you want from me?...."

He chuckled and gave me a sarcastic sympathetic look. "What kind of greeting is that? After all, aren't you happy to see your dear old uncle once more? Ah, but nevermind that...." I clenched my teeth together tightly as he grew a twisted smile on his face. "I'm here because...." He pointed his white gloved hand at me. "I want to put you out of your misery!!!" With that he charged me, baring his K-9 teeth at me with eyes wide open and sinister smile on his face.

I narrowed my eyes and stood my ground, bringing my arms up to defend myself. He rammed completely into me, causing me to skid on my feet a few feet away. I then threw a punch in his direction only to be countered. He grabbed my fist and flipped me over his back. I landed on my feet and twisted myself around so that I could free my arm from him. I turned to face him only to be greeting by the sight of a metal life stealing device. Kage had pulled a revolver out, smiling the whole time I was sweating in fear.

"This, _Joker_, is it. You have nowhere to go." He let out a twisted laugh. "You, dear niece, are considered fucked."

I slightly narrowed my eyes. There was a pause for a while....

"Why...." I began. "Why did you set all of this up? And why do it only now?"

He let out a small chuckle. "In due time, my dear, you will learn...." He pulled the gun up into his view and examined it. "Now listen to me, and listen good my dear." He licked his lips and smiled his twisted smile, looking at the revolver. "I have two bullets in this baby, and as you would have already guessed, I ain't afraid to use them. I am going to keep pulling this trigger until one of the two bullets are fired." He took his other hand and spun the cartridge of the gun. "If it just so happens that the blank that I placed in here fires, I'll let you go for another day. But if the loaded bullet happens to fire...." He looked at me and chuckled. "You know what happens." The cartridge came to a stop and he pressed the gun against my chest. "I like to call this game...." He cocked the revolver. "_Russian Roulette_." He pulled the trigger, and a loud explosive sound echoed throughout the docks.

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As I was walking towards my apartment, I heard the sound of gunfire echo behind me. I stopped in my tracks and turned around, noting that the sound was coming from the docks. "What could be going on so early in the morning?...." I took one step forward, but then stopped myself before making another, debating whether I should really go investigate the strange noise. I decided to myself that whatever had happened, it wasn't any of my business. I knew that I should just turn back around and be on my way. I turned back to the direction of my apartment and took a few steps, but then something made me suddenly stop in my tracks. In the back of my mind, something was telling me that I should go now that I still have a chance. It was like something.... bad..... Something bad that was connected to me somehow was going down at the docks. I just had a feeling. I then turned around and made a run towards the docks, hoping with every vibe in my being that the feeling I had was entirely just my imagination.

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I ran up to one of the large trailer crates and pressed myself against it. I peered around the corner to see a tall man in dark red. I saw a gun with a small line of smoke emitting out of its barrel. He stood infront of another person on their knees, a small pool of blood that was gradually growing larger and larger. I moved my head a little more out of my hiding place to get a better view. The person on their knees was clutching their chest with their right hand, silently gasping for air. The person's head was hung low, the top of their head being the only thing exposed from the neck up. Their hair was jet black and up in a ponytail, and they wore a now blood stained white sleeved shirt; the right sleeve being ripped off, showing three.... long........ "It's Joker....." I whispered softly to myself. The man standing infront of her with the gun slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder, exposing only one of his evil red eyes to me. I saw this.... twisted and sick grin grow on his face.

"Well," he began, looking back at Joker while he placed the gun back in his jacket. "It appears as though our time together has been cut short. I really must get going...." He chuckled and walked around Joker, making his way to the water. He turned his head to look at me and smiled. Then he focused his attention to the water once more and began to ran. I narrowed my eyes. I moved around the trailer and began to chase him, running with everything I had.

"Stop right there!!" More and more distance between me and the mysterious man grew until he was already at the edge of the docks, staring and waiting for me to catch some ground. I stopped in my tracks after catching up to a good few feet away from him. "You have nowhere to go now, creep."

He gave his chilling smile once more. "My, isn't this cruel irony. That's technically what I said to my dear old niece over there before I shot her."

I rose an eyebrow. "Your.... niece?"

He chuckled. He rose his arms at his sides, palms facing me. With that, he let out a terrifying laugh, leaning backwards to fall into the ocean. I went wide eyed and ran over, but it was too late. I looked over the edge on which he stood on, peering into the ocean below. There was no sign of him anyway; there wasn't even any ripples in the water. I narrowed my eyes once more. "He got away...." I then turned around, seeing Joker laying on her stomach in her own blood. "Oh shit...." I ran over to her side, kneeling at her side. I flipped her over onto her back, laying her head on my lap. Her eyes were closed, and there were no signs of movement. "Joker.... Joker....." I gently shook her, but it was no good. A feeling of grief completely washed over me. I felt a tear start to form in my eye. I reached out to grab her hand that was resting on her chest were the wound was. I softly grasped it, gently squeezing. "I gotta help her..... I have too." I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone.

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I walked into the living room to check up on Joker who lay unconscious on my couch. I sat on the chair next to her, sighing. I heard footsteps coming from the kitchen. I turned my head to look at the figure who was making their way to the door. "Hey," I called out. The man looked at me, hand on the door handle. "Thank you for helping me Atrics."

Atrics shrugged his shoulders and opened the door. "Anytime." With that he felt, leaving me alone to watch over the mysterious girl. I looked back at Joker, examining the area she was shot. The bullet was in the upper right area of her chest, missing her heart and lungs completely. She lost a lot of blood, but other than that, she would recover perfectly fine. I then looked at her white sleeved shirt that was draped over the arm rest of the sofa closest to her feet. It was drenched in blood, and worn out from constant use. I then blushed as I looked back at Joker's chest. She didn't have a shirt on, but her upper chest was wrapped up in gauze. I glanced lower to look at her stomach, which to my surprise was actually very toned out. I shook my head, telling myself to get my head out of the gutter.

I then looked at her face, examining her features once more. I noticed the cut on her right cheek from the night we met. I hesitated, but then slowly rose my hand up to it. I gently placed my hand on her cheek, using my thump to lightly trace the scabbed line. I realized that her face was much softer then it looked. I then smiled to myself when I realized how comfortable and peaceful she looked. I moved my hand from her face to her hand, grasping it in my hand softly. I unconsciously intertwined my fingers with hers, blushing a little more. I used my other hand to brush away part of her bangs, exposing her right eye that was hiding underneath it all.

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Sorry if this chapter seemed weak. I'm trying my best. Hope you like it by far.


	3. Recovering

_I ran as fast as I could, hoping for the best but thinking of the worst. As I neared home, I saw flames that reached high up into the skies; its black smoke filling the air. I came to a stop, falling to my knees. I watched helplessly as I watched the only home I ever knew being consumed by the burning inferno. I saw a figure walking out of the fire, feeling the slightest bit of hope shoot throughout my body. As the figure came closer, I realized that it wasn't my mother or father. It was the very person I was afraid of seeing. "K.... Kage...."_

_He grinned, looking down at my small stature. "Well if it isn't my number one niece.... How nice to see you again." I went wide eyed, crawling backward in fear. He chuckled, taking one step toward me. "I'm completely filled with dread of what happened here. I only wish there was a way I could have stopped such terrible event...." I looked pass Kage to see my first and probably last home burn to the ground. I felt a tear come down my cheek, thinking of my parents suffering in such a hellish place. I looked back at Kage, crawling more and more away from him. It went in vain with every step he took closer to me. My mind went completely blank, the only thing that seemed to make sense to me was getting as far away from this homicidal maniac, no matter what it took. I turned around and stood up, sprinting away from him. No matter how far I grew apart from him, I could still hear his blood curling laugh taunting me. _

_I came to a cliff, making my heart skip a beat in fear. I came to the very edge, peering over seeing the dark abyss below that waited for me. I turned around and took a few steps forward to find another way out, only to be greeted by Kage's dark red eyes coming from the darkness behind me. He came into full view, chuckling with every step he took. I backed up, taking a step backwards and felt nothing under my foot. I looked over my shoulder, then back at Kage. I couldn't take it. I didn't care what happened anymore. I was paralyzed in fear and wasn't thinking straight. I took a step backwards and fell, yelling out of surprise. I barely caught the edge of the cliff with my right hand, feeling the rocky surface cutting my palm. I saw Kage's feet come next to my hand, looking down at me. He chuckled and reached into his trademark dark leather jacket, pulling out a forearm length blade. He squatted down to get a better view of me, bringing his blade down, tip between my eyes. I slightly shivered, feeling the cool metal so close to my face. He then brought the blade to my exposed right arm near my shoulder. He then dug the tip of the blade deep into my arm. I let out a cry of pain, seeing the blood flowing from my arm. He then brought the blade up to my forearm, blade still deep in my skin. I felt my arm go completely numb from the pain as it started to become weak, blood spewing out. He pulled the blade out of my arm and started back near my shoulder. He dug the blade into my arm again, bringing it up to my forearm, earning another yell from me. He pulled the blood coated blade out of my limp limb, bringing it up to examine my blood dripping down from it._

_He let out a wicked laugh as I gasped for air. My hand started to quiver from holding my weight for so long. I saw Kage bring the blade up above his head, ready to swing it across my face. I went wide eyed. I saw Kage swing his blade down towards me, the tip coming closer and closer to my eye. I let go of the edge, bringing my arms infront of my face to protect myself just in time. The blade dug into my right forearm and ran up all the way to my shoulder, blood shooting out. I then began falling downward, back facing the ground. I watched Kage standing on the cliff that I hung on become smaller and smaller in my view, the black colored sky behind him. _

_The last thing visible was his red eyes staring down at me._

_---------------------------------------------------_

My eyes shot open as I took in a sharp breath. I slightly shivered, feeling the breeze of the ceiling fan blowing against the cold sweat on my body. My breaths became paced and even, finally calming down. I looked around, not recognizing were I was at all. I sat up, then let out a groan as I felt a sharp pain shoot through my torso. I hunched over, clutching my chest and wincing at the agonizing sensation.

I heard footsteps. "Hey!" The footsteps came rushing over to me. I then felt the person place one hand on my back, and the other on my left shoulder. "You shouldn't move, you're still injured..." The voice belonged to a girl, and was very familiar. I slowly opened my eyes halfway and looked to my right, seeing Symphony's worried face.

"I... It's you...." I barely managed to speak; the pain was beginning to become unbearable.

I felt her move her hand from my shoulder to my cheek. "Don't speak. You need all the energy you can get to heal."

I grunted, turning myself so that my feet were on the floor and I was facing her. She insisted that I lay back down, but I didn't listen. She drew her hands back, not wanting to accidentally hurt me as I moved. I took a deep breath, still slightly hunched. I stayed still for a moment then moved my hands from my chest to let them rest on my lap. I looked at my torso, noticing that my shirt was off. The upper part of my chest was wrapped up in gauze, and there was a small spot of blood were my wound was. I then looked up to see Symphony on her knees infront of me so that we were looking eye to eye. I was about to say something until I realized how close her face was to mine. I must have looked like an idiot; my mouthing being slightly parted with nothing coming out.

"Are you alright?" I snapped back into reality to the sound of Symphony's voice.

"Uh... yeah. Kinda...." I looked around. "Where are we?"

She then shifted herself so that she was now sitting down, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked around. "We're in my apartment. I had my friend help me take you here after you got shot by that.... creep...."

I blinked and looked down, thinking of what she meant. Then a scene of Kage spinning the cartridge of a revolver flashed through my mind. "Oh yeah...." I narrowed my eyes and looked back at Symphony. "Where is he? Did he get away?"

Symphony sighed and looked back at me. "Unfortunately..... He just fell into the water at the docks and.... disappeared...."

"I figured...." I tried to stand up, only to plop back down onto the couch, wincing in pain.

"Hey!" Symphony stood up, moving a bit closer to me. "I told you to relax. You need to."

I shook my head. I took a deep breath and stood up again, this time forcing myself to fight the feeling in my chest. Symphony got up with me, trying to keep me up placing one of her hands on my back, the other holding on of my hands. I finally made it off the couch and was standing on my own two feet. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm fine. Just a bit..." I looked down at my left hand to see Symphony's hand tangled in it. I stared at it for a while, then looked at Symphony, who's head was subconsciously leaning on my left shoulder. I rose an eyebrow, then felt a small smile form at the corner of my mouth. "Hey..."

I heard her slightly muffled voice. "Yeah?..."

"Are you.... gonna let go anytime soon?"

She shifted her head so that she was now looking up at me. "Huh?"

I let out a small chuckle. "I said, are you gonna let go anytime soon?"

I then saw her go completely wide eyed, her face completely turning pink. She drew her hands from me and took a few steps back, turning around. "Oh my god, I am so sorry. I had no idea what I was doing." I could tell she was completely embarrassed from the high pitch tone of voice she was now using.

I let out another chuckle. "Hey, I was just kidding. You don't have to beat yourself up."

She then started to mumble her words. I could have sworn her entire body began to turn pink. She stood there for a while, mumbling her words. I then sighed and walked up behind her. "Hey--"

She jumped and gave a small yelp, turning to face me. As she turned she slightly twisted her foot, causing her to fall backwards. I went wide eyed and reached forward, grabbing her hand. I wrapped my other arm around her to prevent her fall. Out of reaction she wrapped her arms around my neck and held on tight. She nestled her face into my shoulder, scared to see what happened in that split second. I held her close, making sure she wouldn't slip from my grasp. We stayed there for a moment; her suspended above the ground in my arms. She slowly pried her face from my bare torso to shyly look at me with a pink colored face. I looked back at her, only to start blushing myself. Our faces were barely inches apart. I could feel her warm breaths pressing on me.

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I couldn't believe what was happening. My face turned more and more red as I gazed into Joker's dark red eyes. My mind began to turn blank as everything around me faded away. The only thing that I could see was Joker; the only thing that ran through my mind was how the moment felt right. I knew that I was out of my mind for feeling this way for a person I only met once, but, I couldn't help but become lost. I noticed Joker's face begin to turn pink. A small smile crept on my face. "H.... Hey....."

Joker blinked and drew her head back a little, signifying her coming back to reality. She pulled herself back with me in her arms so that I comfortably stood on my feet again. As we came up, my head slowly found it's way to rest against Joker's chest again. I subconsciously stood there, the feeling of her warm body against my cheek. Joker's arms were still wrapped around me while mine were still wrapped around her neck. I slowly move my head to look up Joker, which to my surprise, was looking back down at me aswell. My face started to heat up again, causing me to look back down. That's when I noticed the blood spot on the gauze wrapped around her chest. I hesitated at first, but curiosity took control. I brought down one of my hands from Joker's neck and let it slide down to her torso, my fingertips resting gently on the wound. The thought of the pain Joker had experienced made me slightly cringe, then a bit sad that out of everyone, she had to go through it.

"Does it still hurt?" I felt Joker shift her head down to look at me examining her wound.

"Nah, this little thing?" I gently traced my finger around the wound.

"I can't imagine what you must have gone through...." Then I felt her move her right arm to place her hand on mine.

"Hey, look at me." I didn't respond. I was just lost in my own thought. She then brought her other hand and placed a finger under my chin. Gently, she lifted my head so that I was looking at her. "It's nothing to worry about, alright? I promise, I'll be fine. You don't have to worry."

I felt myself becoming lost in her eyes again. There just just something about them that I knew was.... special. I knew from the night I first gazed into them. The moon that night brought out her eyes so perfectly, making them appear as a fire's soft blaze. A line of pink appeared across my face once more as a certain thought rushed through my mind. I blinked and looked down, embarrassed by the fact that I could ever think of such a thing.

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I watched as Symphony moved her head down. I slightly tilted my head, wondering what could be going through her mind. As I looked down, I wondered back to my torso. Then a certain question popped to my head. "Hey Symphony." She moved her head back up and looked at me. "Um.... Where's my shirt?"

Her eyebrows rose slightly. "Oh yeah." She gently pulled herself away from me, making me immediately miss her warmth. She made her way down the hallway and peered into another room. She then walked back into the living room and sat on the couch. "It was soaked in, um, blood. So I thought that maybe I could, y'know, wash it for you."

"Oh...." I walked over to the couch and sat on Symphony's right. "Thanks. You didn't have to though. If you uh, didn't know that...." I looked down and scratched my head. I heard her giggle, making me look back at her with a small smile. She was looking at me with one of her hands covering her mouth to hid her smile. I chuckled. "Y'know, you don't really have to hide it. It's kinda.... cute." Symphony's face when completely pink as she stared at me. I blinked and looked away, thinking of how much of an idiot I was. I took this time to actually examine the room I was in. It was the living room, and it was pretty much as bare as my room except for the fact that there was a door. There was a window on each side of the door, showing that the sun was setting on the outside world. I rose an eyebrow. "Hey, how long was I out?"

I heard Symphony shift around on the couch. "You were out ever since yesterday morning if I'm not mistaken."

I went wide eyed and looked at her. "Are you serious?" Symphony nodded her head. I then heard her laughing at my expression, seeing as how my mouth as parted and I just sat there. I blinked then sighed. "Ah damn, Faith is gonna kill me...."

Then I heard Symphony's curious voice. "Faith?"

I looked back at her then at the ground. "Yeah, Faith is one of my friends. She's an ex-runner from about four years ago. She's technically the person I work for."

Symphony nodded. "I see. So I'm guessing she's going to chew you out for not checking in?"

"Pretty much...." I yawned. "Ah geez.... I'm still a little bit tired....." I stretched my arms up only to recline back in pain as a sharp feeling shot through my chest. Symphony moved close to me and placed her hand on my lap in concern.

"I told you that you still needed to rest. Here, lay down." Symphony moved back and brought me down on the couch so that I was laying on my back. She then placed my head on her lap. "Is that better?"

I blushed as I looked up at Symphony's eyes. I then looked to the side. "Y-yeah, that's fine...."

She brushed my hair gently and rubbed my cheek. "Get some more rest, ok?"

I looked back at Symphony. I then sighed and closed my eyes. "Alright, alright. I'll try...." I yawned and easily started drifting into unconsciousness.

_---------------------------------------------------_

I slipped on my shirt and looked out the window. The sun was slowly rising over the horizon in the distance, signifying that it was still early morning. I looked at Symphony infront of me, watching me get set for take off. "Well, thanks for everything. I'll most likely see you again. That cool?"

Symphony giggled. "Of course. Now, take care of yourself, alright?"

I smirked. "Yeah, I will." I turned and faced the door, but something stopped me from leaving right away. I turned around to look back at Symphony and offered my hand. She looked at my hand then back at me. She smiled then took my hand in hers, shaking it. I then gently pulled her to me and hugged her. I stayed that way for a while with her in my arms. Eventually I felt her move her arms around my neck to hug me back. I looked down at her and smirked. She moved her head to look up at me, pink on her face once more. I smiled, then pulled away from her. She looked at me, her face getting brighter and brighter. I then leaned forward and gently kissed her on the cheek, earning a small gasp. I pulled away to see her slowly bring her hands up to her mouth. I smirked once more. "See you around." I turned to face the door and made my way towards it.

As I layed my hand on the handle, I heard Symphony call out to me. "Wait!"

I turned around to see Symphony walking towards me. "What is it?"

She walked up to me and placed her hands on my shoulders. Slightly bringing me down, she closed her eyes, leaned up to me and kissed me gently on the lips. I went wide eyed, feeling the blood rushing up rapidly to my face. She then slowly pulled away from me and took a few steps back, blushing but smiling aswell. I was leaning against the door, hand still on the handle. My mouth was slightly parted with no words coming out, and my face was completely red. I then accidentally leaned down on the handle, causing it to turn. The door swung open, causing me to stumble backwards. I caught myself before hitting the ground hard just in time. I came back up and looked at Symphony who was standing with her hands covering her mouth, wide eyed. I chuckled and waved. "I'm uh.... I'm fine. She then slowly brought her hands to her chest and smiled. I reached for the door handle, still looking at her. I grabbed ahold of it and slowly began to close the door, smiling like a dork at Symphony. "Um.... Bye."

She giggled and slightly waved back. "Bye."

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Ok I have to admit, I really think this was cheesy. Please don't hate me if you dont like this chapter cause honestly, I dont either. I can only do so much, seeing as how I'm a 14 year old high school student that only works on this story if I have time. So I really really hope this wasnt THAT bad. Im gonna try make the next chapter more about action. Hope you review


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